1. My Opinion ~ My answer

Is the God of Muhammad the Father of Jesus? Now from the start, this question brings about much controversy even today. It is also not just a problem with Christians but also Muslims. Would it be wrong for a Christian to believe that the stated question was to be answered, “Yes”, or would it be wrong for a Muslim to answer the same way as well? Honestly though, I believe the answer for both sides can go both ways. However, for me I believe the answer would be yes to some extent which I will explain below.

To start off, I will begin by a personal story of mine. About a year and a half ago, over the summer I actually met a follower of Islam, her name being Mary. Quite ironic how I asked her the same question that far back. Her reply in summary was, “Yes.” Now obviously she doesn’t speak for the whole of Islam, as I am absolutely sure that there would be many who would agree and many who would disagree. This just goes to show that this same question is dealt with by both faiths. Which side do you fall under? I suppose is the question.

Now I’ll jump to the beliefs about God. Many might state: Well Islam calls their God ‘Allah’ as opposed to the Christians’ ‘God, Father, etc.’ The difference in the name isn’t necessarily the problem though. For many things have multiple names. A box can also be called a chest in many cases, can it not? In fact, I can almost guarantee you that it has nothing to do with the name at all. The term "Allah" is derived from the Arabic language, and it is commonly used because it is an unparralleled way to reference to God. It basically means the following: 'The one and only God worthy to be worshipped.' On top of that, the Arabic Christians and Jews have no problem using "Allah" to reference to their God. So then why wouldn't you use 'God' as the name? When you look at it, the answer becomes fairly simple actually. The term 'god' in itself can give credit to many people such as the "god of thunder" or even "goddess athena." So to prevent confusion, "Allah" is used for two reasons. The meaning of the word (as mentioned above), and "Allah" does not denote a certain gender.

Now, the major difference between the two occurs when you reach the point of Jesus. Is Jesus a prophet or part of the trinity? Pretty much, that’s where the two begin to split. Islam believes in the sole ‘oneness’ of God, and Christianity believes God exists as three persons. Christians believe that God exists as one too. So, Islam and Christianity are similar, but they are quite different as well. Again, the difference occurs basically when Jesus gets introduced.

Apart from that, the two believe that God is sovereign and omnipotent, God is the creator, God revealed himself to an extent, and there is a definite line between right and wrong. However, because Islam lacks the beliefs about the Christian’s beliefs about Jesus, then God never became took on the form of flesh and has a different form of love for humanity. In Islam, I guess it could be said that God cared enough to provide a way out of eternal death, but the rest is up to your deeds. In Christianity, God cared enough to send his Son to die for your sins. Then the question may be asked: which faith believes God loves you more? I’d say the faith that believes God was willing to die for your sins.

However, it still isn't like these faiths are black and white. They share many likenesses. Both faiths believe in a spiritual realm, a final judgement of God, messengers sent by God, and books delivered by God through his followers. Both Christianity and Islam believe in one true God, prayers to God are heard, giving to the poor, fasting, and in some cases taking a pilgrimage. I say in some cases for the purpose that sometimes taking a legitimate pilgrimage may be impossible or not carried out. For instance, Christians may or may not take a pilgrimage. Also, taking a pilgrimage in the faith of Islam is much more important than taking a pilgrimage for Christianity.

An interesting question may come to mind after all of this. In a Christian perspective, are the prayers of Muslims heard by God? Being that God is omnipotent, I don’t see why God would not hear the prayers of anyone. I also do not see why He wouldn’t answer the prayer if it was according to his will. In order to be impartial I’ll give an answer on both perspectives. In Christianity, God is a God of all people, and sent His Son for all people. In conclusion, God is open to all who are willing and ready whenever you are. The only one who holds you back is ultimately yourself. In Islam, God is still a God of all people, and sent messengers for all who are willing. Again, the only one who holds you back from changing your lifestyle is yourself. In addition to answering this question, you can’t worship the same God if you don’t believe they are the same. In other words, if you truly believe that Allah and the Father of Jesus are two completely different gods then they can’t be the same. The easiest example for this is a symbol and its counterpart. If I were to put a bald eagle and a picture of the United States in front of you, would you first respond to them as different or the same? Okay so for people in the United States, you probably saw them as one. What if I were to put a square and the word ‘Man’? Traditionally in most cases, it is a square that represents man and a circle that represents God. Now the point of this was to show you that the choice is yours to make, and to show you that it all depends on how you look at things.

In the end, I do believe that the God of Muhammad is the Father of Jesus. Though, I can see why many people would disagree with me, which is fine as well. I also think it would be impossible to be one-hundred percent, absolutely sure that they are the same. Once more, I’d like to bring out that it really depends on how you were to look at something. Are things black and white or is there more to a picture than what it seems?